Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions
Introduction: Cold water imposes many risks to the diver. These risks include decompression illness, physical and cognitive impairment, and hypothermia. Cognitive impairment can be estimated using a critical flicker fusion frequency (CFFF) test, but this method has only been used in a few studies co...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:69775243a95849729a2a9cd1325fd26a 2023-05-15T15:01:52+02:00 Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions Wilhelm W. Piispanen Richard V. Lundell Laura J. Tuominen Anne K. Räisänen-Sokolowski 2021-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.722915 https://doaj.org/article/69775243a95849729a2a9cd1325fd26a EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.722915/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-042X 1664-042X doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.722915 https://doaj.org/article/69775243a95849729a2a9cd1325fd26a Frontiers in Physiology, Vol 12 (2021) inert gas narcosis mixed gas diving thermal control technical diving arctic diving Physiology QP1-981 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.722915 2022-12-31T12:27:23Z Introduction: Cold water imposes many risks to the diver. These risks include decompression illness, physical and cognitive impairment, and hypothermia. Cognitive impairment can be estimated using a critical flicker fusion frequency (CFFF) test, but this method has only been used in a few studies conducted in an open water environment. We studied the effect of the cold and a helium-containing mixed breathing gas on the cognition of closed circuit rebreather (CCR) divers.Materials and Methods: Twenty-three divers performed an identical dive with controlled trimix gas with a CCR device in an ice-covered quarry. They assessed their thermal comfort at four time points during the dive. In addition, their skin temperature was measured at 5-min intervals throughout the dive. The divers performed the CFFF test before the dive, at target depth, and after the dive.Results: A statistically significant increase of 111.7% in CFFF values was recorded during the dive compared to the pre-dive values (p < 0.0001). The values returned to the baseline after surfacing. There was a significant drop in the divers’ skin temperature of 0.48°C every 10 min during the dive (p < 0.001). The divers’ subjectively assessed thermal comfort also decreased during the dive (p = 0.01).Conclusion: Our findings showed that neither extreme cold water nor helium-containing mixed breathing gas had any influence on the general CFFF profile described in the previous studies from warmer water and where divers used other breathing gases. We hypothesize that cold-water diving and helium-containing breathing gases do not in these diving conditions cause clinically relevant cerebral impairment. Therefore, we conclude that CCR diving in these conditions is safe from the perspective of alertness and cognitive performance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Frontiers in Physiology 12 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
inert gas narcosis mixed gas diving thermal control technical diving arctic diving Physiology QP1-981 |
spellingShingle |
inert gas narcosis mixed gas diving thermal control technical diving arctic diving Physiology QP1-981 Wilhelm W. Piispanen Richard V. Lundell Laura J. Tuominen Anne K. Räisänen-Sokolowski Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
topic_facet |
inert gas narcosis mixed gas diving thermal control technical diving arctic diving Physiology QP1-981 |
description |
Introduction: Cold water imposes many risks to the diver. These risks include decompression illness, physical and cognitive impairment, and hypothermia. Cognitive impairment can be estimated using a critical flicker fusion frequency (CFFF) test, but this method has only been used in a few studies conducted in an open water environment. We studied the effect of the cold and a helium-containing mixed breathing gas on the cognition of closed circuit rebreather (CCR) divers.Materials and Methods: Twenty-three divers performed an identical dive with controlled trimix gas with a CCR device in an ice-covered quarry. They assessed their thermal comfort at four time points during the dive. In addition, their skin temperature was measured at 5-min intervals throughout the dive. The divers performed the CFFF test before the dive, at target depth, and after the dive.Results: A statistically significant increase of 111.7% in CFFF values was recorded during the dive compared to the pre-dive values (p < 0.0001). The values returned to the baseline after surfacing. There was a significant drop in the divers’ skin temperature of 0.48°C every 10 min during the dive (p < 0.001). The divers’ subjectively assessed thermal comfort also decreased during the dive (p = 0.01).Conclusion: Our findings showed that neither extreme cold water nor helium-containing mixed breathing gas had any influence on the general CFFF profile described in the previous studies from warmer water and where divers used other breathing gases. We hypothesize that cold-water diving and helium-containing breathing gases do not in these diving conditions cause clinically relevant cerebral impairment. Therefore, we conclude that CCR diving in these conditions is safe from the perspective of alertness and cognitive performance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wilhelm W. Piispanen Richard V. Lundell Laura J. Tuominen Anne K. Räisänen-Sokolowski |
author_facet |
Wilhelm W. Piispanen Richard V. Lundell Laura J. Tuominen Anne K. Räisänen-Sokolowski |
author_sort |
Wilhelm W. Piispanen |
title |
Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
title_short |
Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
title_full |
Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
title_fullStr |
Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
title_full_unstemmed |
Assessment of Alertness and Cognitive Performance of Closed Circuit Rebreather Divers With the Critical Flicker Fusion Frequency Test in Arctic Diving Conditions |
title_sort |
assessment of alertness and cognitive performance of closed circuit rebreather divers with the critical flicker fusion frequency test in arctic diving conditions |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.722915 https://doaj.org/article/69775243a95849729a2a9cd1325fd26a |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Frontiers in Physiology, Vol 12 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.722915/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-042X 1664-042X doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.722915 https://doaj.org/article/69775243a95849729a2a9cd1325fd26a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.722915 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Physiology |
container_volume |
12 |
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1766333868122570752 |